c 

MS']  3^1 


i 

®ljr  iitarai  Bulletin 

Published  Monthly  by  Miami  University 

And  Entered  at  Postoffice,  Oxford,  Ohio,  as  Second  Class  Mail  Matter 


Series  VII.  November,  1908.  Number  6 


A Manual  for  Teachers  of  German  in 
High  Schools  and  Colleges 


I 


How  Do  You  Teach  Elementary  German? 


Do  you  begin  with  a grammar,  put  a table  of  vowels  and 
consonants  on  the  blackboard  the  first  day,  teach  the  alphabet, 
assign  the  articles  for  memorizing  at  the  first  lesson,  and  dismiss 
your  class?  Do  you  do  all  this  in  English?  Do  you  meet  your 
class  the  next  day,  read  the  first  set  of  German  sentences,  trans- 
late them  into  English,  hear  the  alphabet  and  the  declension  of 
the  articles  recited,  and  assign  the  next  set  of  sentences  for  trans- 
lation? Do  you  go  on  in  this  way  until  the  end  of  the  semester, 
with  the  result  that  no  one  in  your  class  ever  uses  a German 
sentence  spontaneously,  that  none  of  your  students  ever  come  to 
feel  the  German,  that  they  usually  lose  all  interest  in  German  as 
soon  as  they  quit  school,  or  that  they,  at  best,  remain  all  their 
lives  but  nimble  translators? 

Of  course,  we  all  know  that  many  teachers  are  doing  this 
very  thing,  but  a change  is  rapidly  coming.  Progressive  school- 
boards  feel  that  this  sort  of  teaching  is  not  what  they  want. 

Besides,  if  you  could  find  a principle  and  a system  of  teach- 
ing which  is,  after  a year  or  two  of  experience  with  it,  handled 
just  as  easily  as  the  one  you  are  now  following,  a method  which 
keeps  the  student’s  interest  at  white  heat,  which  leads  him  to 
learn  not  only  to  read  German  without  translating  it,  but  to  be- 


come  so  interested  that  he  wants  to  learn  the  forms  of  accidence, 
if  you  could  discover  such  a method,  would  you  not  be  willing 
to  undergo  the  incidental  labor  of  learning  to  handle  it  in  your 
class  room? 

The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  set  forth  such  a principle  and 
course  of  instruction  for  elementary  German ; not  a revolutionary 
one,  for  the  underlying  principle  has  been  in  practice  in  Europe 
for  several  decades ; the  Committee  of  Twelve,  appointed  by  the 
National  Educational  Association  in  1895,  endorsed  it  highly,  but 
owing  to  the  somewhat  primitive  state  of  modern  language  in- 
struction in  the  United  States  at  that  time,  did  not  recommend 
it  for  general  use,  while  Prof.  Bahlsen  in  his  book.  The  Teaching 
of  Modern  Languages  (Ginn  & Co.  1903),  expressly  recommends 
this  principle  of  teaching  as  the  one  especially  adapted  to  Ameri- 
can conditions.  Moreover,  a goodly  number  of  our  livest  teachers 
are  now  using  it  in  their  class  rooms  in  some  form. 

To  understand  this  method  it  will  be  necessary  to  cast  a 
cursory  glance  upon  the  history  of  modern  language  instruction. 

When  the  modern  languages  first  became  a part  of  the  curric- 
ulum of  secondary  schools  in  Europe,  instructors,  casting  about 
for  a method  of  teaching  them,  quite  naturally  hit  upon  the  only 
method  of  language  instruction  then  known,  namely ; the  gram- 
mar-translation method  as  employed  by  the  teachers  of  Latin  and 
Greek.  Now,  that  may  be  the  proper  method  of  teaching  Latin 
and  Greek,  but  it  is  an  axiom  today  with  all  progressive  teachers 
that  it  is  not  the  proper  method  to  teach  a modern  language. 

It  was  not  long  either  before  teachers  and  patrons  perceived 
the  futility  of  this  method  as  applied  to  the  teaching  of  modern 
languages,  and  protested.  Basedow,  in  Germany,  in  the  fifties 
and  sixties  of  the  eighteenth  century,  sought  to  do  away  with  the 
one-sided  memorizing  of  rules  and  exceptions,  and  advocated  the 
use  of  the  living  language  and  of  the  Real  ten  in  the  class  room. 

A long  succession  of  reformers,  extending  over  one  hundred 
years,  appeared  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  each  contributing 
something  to  the  betterment  of  the  teaching  of  the  modern  lan- 
guages, but  the  heat  of  the  decisive  fight  came  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  when  Dr.  W.  Vietor,  a German  pedagogue,  threw 
his  famous  pamphlet,  Der  Sprachuntcrricht  muss  umkehren ! into 
the  complacent  camp  of  the  translators. 


2 


Vietor  demands  a large  use  of  the  living  language  in  the 
school  room ; less  emphasis  on  rules  and  exceptions ; and  the 
abandonment  of  the  easy-going  way  of  teaching  employed  by  the 
grammar-translation  methodists. 

Others  followed  Vietor,  and  soon  the  teachers  of  the  modern 
languages  were  divided  into  two  hostile  camps,  the  progressives 
and  the  let-good-enough-alone  old-timers. 

In  Germany  the  upshot  of  the  fierce  conflict  waged  about 
this  reform,  was  the  calling  of  a conference  of  the  modern  lan- 
guage teachers  in  1890  by  the  Emperor,  which  recommended  (a) 
abridgement  of  the  instruction  in  grammar,  (b)  large  written 
and  oral  use  of  the  foreign  language  in  the  class  room.  Similar 
results  have  been  arrived  at  in  other  countries.  Throughout 
Europe  the  old  method  has  been  discarded  and  today  old  method 
and  old  fogy  are  synonymous. 

If  now  we  cast  a passing  glance  at  the  methods  of  teaching 
modern  languages  in  our  own  country,  what  do.  we  find?  We 
find  the  majority  of  teachers  still  grinding  out  the  old  meaning- 
less sentences  in  the  same  soul-atrophying  way  in  which  they 
themselves  were  taught.  Why?  Because  it  is  the  easiest  way? 
Because  they  are  afraid  of  the  work  which  live  teaching  of  the 
language  would  entail?  To  be  sure,  there  are  many,  who,  reared 
under  the  old  method,  know  no  other.  Anyone  who  reads  the 
technical  journals  has  hit  upon  discussions  of  the  psychological 
or  phonetic  method,  but  of  these  in  actual  operation  most  teach- 
ers know  little,  if  anything. 

And  so,  although  earnest,  striving  teachers  are  continually 
seeking,  and,  in  part,  realizing,  a better  way  of  instructing,  the 
grammar-translation  method  has  remained  the  prevalent  one, 
albeit  we  all  know  its  baneful  effects,  albeit  we  all  know  that 
after  two  or  three  years  of  such  instruction,  filled  with  stunting 
drudgery  for  the  student  and  soul-blighting  disappointment  for 
the  teacher,  the  pupil  has  at  best  stumbled  through  a beginner’s 
book  and  a few  classical  dramas,  while  he  has  no  notion  of  what 
Sprachgefuehl  means,  and  no  understanding  whatever  of  the  cul- 
ture of  the  nation  whose  language  and  literature  he  has  been 
vainly  trying  to  learn  about. 

Then  why  have  we  not  demanded  a more  rational  method? 

There  was  a committee  appointed  by  the  National  Educa- 


3 


tional  Association  in  1896  to  investigate  the  teaching  of  the  mod- 
ern languages  and  to  recommend  any  necessary  changes.  It  was 
expected  in  many  quarters  that  the  committee  would  suggest 
some  changes  in  line  with  the  general  reform  movement  then 
going  on  in  modern  language  instruction  in  Europe,  but  the 
committee,  whose  report  was  submitted  in  1898,  brought  in  a 
reactionary  report.  It  must  be  said  in  justice  to  these  men, 
however,  that  they  did,  as  they  say  in  their  report,  find  a some- 
what chaotic  condition  in  modern  language  instruction,  i.  e., 
teachers  of  unequal  preparation,  courses  of  varying  length,  etc. 
They  recommended  upon  the  whole  an  adherence  to  the  old 
method,  which  was,  however,  to  be  given  a strong  admixture  of 
the  new  pedagogy. 

However,  since  the  sanction  seemed  to  have  been  given  to 
the  old  method,  and  since  publishers  continued  to  turn  out  the 
old-time  books,  the  majority  of  teachers  found  it  easy  and  con- 
venient not  to  introduce  the  new  and  liver  elements. 

Since  the  submittal  of  this  report  ten  years  ago,  great  changes 
have  come.  The  status  of  modern  language  work  is  vastly  im- 
proved. With  the  changed  conditions — better  prepared  teachers, 
longer  courses,  etc. — better  teaching  is  demanded. 

And  now  to  the  positive  side  of  our  task.  My  experience 
as  a teacher  of  the  old  method  brought  me  early  to  attempts 
toward  a liver  mode  of  instruction;  first  to  a large  use  of  the 
idiom  in  the  class  rot>m,  along  with  the  grammar  and  the  reading, 
and  eventually,  since  the  translation  habit  could  not  be  otherwise 
avoided,  to  the  composition  of  a series  of  exercises  modelled  on 
the  series  of  M.  Gouin,1  without,  however,  adopting  all  of  that 
great  but  sometimes  over-zealous  teacher’s  ideas  and  methods. 
Our  series  does  not  include,  e.  g.,  all  of  the  phrases  of  the  lan- 
guage as  M.  Gouin  intended,  nor  is  it  meant  to  extend  over  the 
entire  course  of  instruction.  We  have  preferred  to  use  a number 
of  exercises,  sufficient  to  inculcate  in  the  student  a feeling  for  the 
spirit  of  the  language,  to  teach  him  to  read  easy  compositions 
without  translating  them,  to  understand  simple  sentences,  and  to 
be  able  to  answer  in  such  on  the  matter  in  hand. 


!Cf.  Gouin’s  very  inspiring  book.  The  Art  of  Teaching  and  Study- 
ing Languages;  Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  N.  Y.  1907  (8th  ed.) 


4 


Our  series  contains  for  the  present  one  hundred  and  eleven 
exercises  of  from  eighteen  to  twenty-five  sentences  each,  on 
themes  of  every-day  life.  Long  before  all  of  the  exercises  have 
been  assimilated,  in  fact,  just  as  soon  as  the  teacher  deems  it 
wise,  reading  of  easy  texts  is  begun,  along  with  the  use  of  the 
Exercises ; German,  however,  remaining  the  language  of  the 
class  room  as  heretofore.1  Now  translating  from  English  into 
German,  but  never  from  German  into  English,  is  begun.  The 
best  material  for  this  purpose  we  find  to  be  transcriptions,  i.  e., 
sentences  based  on  the  text  in  hand.  A text  book  containing 
suitable  reading  matter,  transcriptions  of  the  kind  mentioned, 
and  a considerable  resume  of  the  elements  of  grammar  is  used.2 

Grammatical  forms  are  taught  from  the  first  day  on,  and 
the  forms  are  kept  before  the  student  by  charts  displayed  on  the 
walls  of  the  class  room.  With  the  introduction  of  English-into- 
German  translation,  grammar  is  taken  up  more  seriously,  but  to 
a considerable  extent,  inductively,  i.  e.,  the  rules  are  elaborated 
from  the  forms  met  with  in  the  course  of  the  reading. 

Moreover,  we  deviate  from  M.  Gouin  in  that  we  make  large 
use  of  the  Realien 3 in  the  class  room,  i.  e.,  lantern  slides,  post 
cards,  portraits,  busts,  illustrating  the  art,  architecture,  geog- 
raphy, landscape,  customs,  costumes,  manners,  history,  inhabi- 
tants and  the  great  personages  of  the  people,  whose  language  is 
being  studied.  We  also  use  folk  songs,  proverbs  and  rhymes  to 
illustrate  the  life  of  the  German  people. 

As  to  the  use  of  our  Exercises  in  the  class  room.  There  is 
an  Exercise  for  each  day4  which,  it  is  to  be  especially  noted,  is 


lOn  the  method  of  teaching  texts  see  below  under  II. 

2For  the  present:  Wenckebach’s  Gluck  Auf ! Ginn  & Co.;  and  Allen 
and  Batt,  Easy  German  Stories.  Vol.  1.  Scott,  Foresman  & Co. 

3The  Realien  may  be  defined  as  everything  connected  with  the  civili- 
zation of  modern  nations  in  their  interpretation  of  life. 

4Later  on  two  lessons  may  be  given  for  one  recitation,  or  a reading 
from  a reader,  or  a folk-song  may  be  read  and  assigned  for  memorizing, 
in  which  case  the  melody  should  be  taught  at  the  same  time,  as  it  proves 
a great  aid  in  memorizing.  We  have  issued  a pamphlet  containing  twenty- 
four  typical  folk  songs,  which  we  use,  and  which  may  be  had  of  us  at  five 
cents  per  copy  upon  application.  A text,  Deutsches  Liederbuch  fuer 
amerikanische  Studenten,  containing  the  music  for  the  songs,  may  be  had 
of  D.  C.  Heath  & Co.,  for  sixty-five  cents. 


5 


never  handed  the  student  until  near  the  close  of  the  recitation. 
With  the  opening  Exercise1  thoroughly  in  mind,  the 

3-The  following  are  the  first  and  sixty-seventh  exercises  of  our  series. 
1 Ich  lese  in  einem  Buch 

Ich  nehme  ein  Buch 

Ich  nehme  es  in  die  rechte  Hand 

Ich  oeffne  es 

Ich  wende  die  Seiten 

Ich  suche  die  erste  Seite 
Ich  finde  die  erste  Seite 
Ich  lese  den  Titel 
Ich  sehe  das  Bild  an 

Ich  blaettere  weiter 

Ich  lese  in  dem  Buch 

Koennen  Sie  lesen?  Ja?  Nein? 

Ich  mache  das  Buch  zu 

Ich  lege  das  Buch  auf  den  Tisch 

Soweit.  Ich  danke  Ihnen.  Verstehen  Sie  das?  Wiederholen  Sie  das, 
bitte.  Sie  koennen  gehen 

67  Die  Huehner  trinken 

geht — Die  Magd  geht  in  die  Molkerei 

nimmt — Sie  nimmt  einen  Topf  sauere  Milch  zur  Hand 

verlaeszt — Sie  verlaeszt  die  Molkerei,  den  Topf  in  der  Rechten. 

richtet — Sie  richtet  ihre  Schritte  gegen  den  Huehnerhof 

gieszt — Sie  gieszt  die  Sauermilch  in  den  Trog 

ruft — Sie  ruft  die  Huehner  zusammen 

traegt — Und  traegt  dann  den  Napf  in  die  Molkerei  zurueck 

haben — Die  Huehner  haben  groszen  Durst 

kommen  gelaufen — Sie  kommen  hurtig  von  alien  Seiten  gelaufen 

umringen — Sie  umringen  den  Trog 

senkt — Jedes  Huhn  senkt  den  Kopf 

steckt — Und  steckt  den  Schnabel  in  die  Milch 

schnappt — Es  schnappt  einen  Schnabelvoll  von  der  weiszen  Milch 

hebt — Es  hebt  den  Kopf  und  schluckt  hinunter 

nimmt— Dann  nimmt  es  einen  zweiten  u.  s.  w.  Schnabelvoll 

hat — Endlich  hat  es  genug  und  hoert  auf  zu  trinken, 

laeuft  davon — Es  laeuft  davon 

Wenn  Tiere  trinken,  nennt  man  es  gewoehnlich  “saufen.” — Das  ist 
merkwuerdig,  aber  Menschen  saufen  auch  manchmal,  denke  ich. — Ja,  wenn 
sie  unmaeszig  trinken,  nennt  man  es  auch  “Saufen.” — Ich  danke  Ihnen 
fuer  die  Auskunft. — O,  bitte  sehr. 


6 


teacher  steps  before  his  class.  The  first  day  or  two,  he  tells  the 
class  the  theme  of  the  lesson  in  a few  words,  in  English,  where- 
upon he  begins  to  speak  the  Exercise  to  the  class  in  German, 
dwelling  in  each  case  upon  the  verb,  before  speaking  the  sentence 
containing  it.  The  class  repeats  the  verb  and  the  sentence  after 
the  teacher. 

Occasionally,  when  offering  a new  concept,1  the  teacher 
invites  the  class  to  close  their  eyes  and  to  form  a distinct  mental 
image  of  the  matter  under  consideration.  Thus  he  goes  through 
the  first  group  of  sentences,  the  grouping  having  been  made  to 
facilitate  retaining  them  in  mind,  whereupon  he  invites  one  of  the 
pupils  to  repeat  the  entire  group.2 

In  this  way  the  entire  exercise  is  inculcated,  the  whole  class 
repeating  each  sentence  a number  of  times,  and  individual  stu- 
dents taking  each  a paragraph  from  time  to  time. 

Thus,  at  least  five-sixths  of  the  time  is  spent  in  learning  the 
new  lesson,  while  the  preceding  one  is  run  through  in  a few 
minutes  at  the  beginning  of  the  hour.  The  student  should  actu- 
ally know  the  advance  lesson  each  day  before  leaving  the  class 
room.  Of  course,  this  does  not  preclude  running  over  it,  or 
copying  it  at  home. 

In  copying  the  Exercises  the  orthography  is  learned,  while 
tenses,  persons,  numbers,  etc.,  are  learned  by  having  the  students 
transpose  the  Exercises  into  another  tense,  person,  number, 
dwelling  on  each  a sufficient  number  of  days  to  impart  the  feeling 
for  the  proper  form.  Such  transposition  may  be  done  at  home. 
During  the  recitation  also  the  lessons  are  occasionally  recited  in 
various  tenses. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  recitation  period,  greetings,  remarks 
about  the  weather,  inquiry  about  ill  or  absent  students,  counting 


ITo  impress  the  importance  of  the  verb  upon  the  student,  we  have 
it  printed  at  the  beginning  of  the  line  in  occasional  exercises. 

2 It  will  be  noticed  that  the  sentences  are  arranged  in  order  as  the 
actions  would  naturally  occur  in  life,  and  are  thus  easily  carried  in  mind. 
The  appended  conversational  sentences  are  spoken  in  the  course  of  the 
hour  from  time  to  time  by  students  called  upon  to  do  so,  and  are  found  a 
great  aid  in  instilling  an  aptitude  for  conversation. 


7 


the  students  instead  of  calling  the  roll,  counting  the  lessons  with 
cardinals  or  ordinals,  etc.,  etc.,  will  serve  to  impart  much  to 
students  and  teach  them  to  converse  in  German. 

How  about  the  drill  in  phonetics  which  some  European 
reformers  are  making  so  much  of?  Our  first  contention  is  that, 
with  our  method  of  teaching,  which  is  to  so  great  an  extent  oral, 
drill  in  phonetics  is  not  so  necessary  as  in  other  methods.  Be- 
sides few  teachers  are  qualified  to  give  it.  Moreover,  it  is  not  so 
necessary  as  in  Germany,  where  the  many  difficult  sounds  of 
English  and  French  are  to  be  taught. 

Again,  only  the  ultra-reformers  in  Europe  are  advocating 
the  severe  phonetic  drill. 

But  we  do  believe  in  the  use  of  phonetics  in  teaching  ele- 
mentary German  and  make  use  of  it  during  the  first  weeks.  We 
believe  that  every  teacher  should  know  at  least  enough  of  phonet- 
ics to  be  able  to  correct  the  faulty  use  of  the  vocal  organs, 1 
which  he  should  attend  to  assiduously.  A Vietors  Lauttafel , too, 
might  well  be  displayed  in  the  class  room. 

But  this  program  does  not  exhaust  our  efforts.  From  the 
first  day  on,  a large  use  of  cognates  and  synonyms  is  made.  Con- 
stant use  is  made  of  the  grammatical  charts,  of  maps,  post  cards 
and  pictures  illustrating  German  life,  while  occasional  lantern- 
slide  lectures  in  German  help  to  enliven  the  instruction. 

Care  must  be  taken  to  obviate  the  use  of  English  in  the 
class  room.  To  be  sure  there  is  no  objection,  now  and  then,  to 
telling  the  meaning  of  a word  in  English.  In  most  cases,  how- 
ever, circumlocution,  or  a bit  of  pantomime  will  suffice  to  convey 
the  meaning  of  a new  word. 

Remember  that  the  ear,  not  the  eye,  is  the  proper  receptive 
organ  of  language,  and  that  the  sentence,  not  the  word,  is  the  unit 
of  speech. 

The  medium  of  the  class  room  must  be  German,  and  students 
should  be  held  to  it.  This  will  not  be  found  difficult,  once  the  habit 
has  been  well  formed,  and  the  pleasure  of  having  volunteers  for 


^Besides  Bahlsen,  already  mentioned,  the  teacher  should  consult: 
Hempl,  German  Orthography  and  Phonology,  Ginn  & Co. ; Grandgent, 
German  and  English  Sounds,  Boston,  ’92.  Sweet,  A Primer  of  Phonetics, 
Oxford,  1890. 


8 


every  task  and  every  answer  will  act  like  an  elixir  upon  the 
teacher.  Teaching  becomes  a pleasure.  Your  pupils  come  to 
your  class  room  not  like  “the  galley  slave,  scourged  to  his  dun- 
geon,” but  as  they  go  to  the  swimming  pool. 

Thus  I would  open  before  you  a vista  of  better  trained  lan- 
guage students  and  better  citizens. 


NOTE. — The  Exercises  may  be  had  in  any  quantity  at  fifty  cents  per 
set,  postpaid,  by  applying  to  the  German  Department  of  Miami  University, 
Oxford,  Ohio.  A considerable  number  of  High  Schools  and  Colleges  are 
now  using  them.  The  Exercises  are  sold  only  to  teachers,  never  through 
book  sellers,  since  they  are  not  to  be  given  the  students  at  one  time,  but 
handed  out  from  day  to  day,  i.  e.  the  student  is  not  to  see  the  printed 
page  until  he  has  learned  it  by  ear. 

High  School  teachers  are  invited  to  attend  the  Teachers'  Course  in 
Methods  of  Teaching  Modern  Languages , given  during  the  Summer  Term 
at  Miami  University,  to  visit  our  classes  at  any  time,  and  thus  learn  how 
to  prepare  their  pupils  to  go  on  successfully  in  our  courses. 


9 


il 

Teaching  Advanced  German 


I am  here  concerned  with  the  teaching  of  German  in  classes 
above  the  first  year,  and  my  first  thesis  is  that  such  instruction  is 
best  and  most  profitably  imparted  by  means  of  the  German  lan- 
guage. 

In  the  first  place  the  student  should  never  be  taught  to 
translate,  but  to  think  in  German,  and  in  cases  where  the  transla- 
tion habit  has  been  contracted,  it  should  be  overcome  as  speedily 
as  possible.  To  do  this  it  will  be  imperative  to  bar  English  from 
the  class  room  quite  completely. 

But  to  leave  theory  and  come  to  practical  matters,  let  us 
suppose,  if  you  will,  a teacher  with  a second  year  class  and  the 
following  portion  of  text  before  him: 

^-“Konrad  Lenz,  geboren  1513,  gestorben  um  1590,  Schuler 
des  Christoph  Amberger,  ausgezeichnet  durch  den  warmen  Gold- 
ton  seiner  Farbe,  malte  Historien  und  Legenden,  auch  Mythol- 
ogisches,  auf  Holztafeln  in  kleinem  Format.  Seine  Bilder  sind 
sehr  selten. 

“So  ungefahr  steht’s  gedruckt  im  Katalog  einer  Galerie,  die 
ich  augenblicklich  nicht  nennen  kann. 

“Dieser  merkwfirdige  Mann  pflegte  zu  sagen:  Das  Malen 
ware  die  schonste  Kunst,  wenn  die  Bilder  nur  nicht  fertig  zu 
werden  brauchten.  Den  er  malte  gern  und  gut,  allein  er  wollte 
immer  nur  malen,  wann  er  wollte,  und  das  geschah  oft  nur 
einmal  die  Woche,  ofters  auch  gar  nicht.  Den  verabredeten 
Termin  eines  bestellten  Bildes  einzuhalten,  war  ihm  ganz  un- 
moglich.  Hatte  er’s  heuer  auf  Weihnachten  zu  liefern  versproch- 
en,  so  begann  er  zu  Pfingsten  fibers  Jahr  die  Tafel  zu  grundieren. 
Er  gramte  sich  auch  gar  nicht  fiber  diese  Eigenschaft,  die  offen- 
bar  mit  der  launischen  Natur  des  Planeten  zusammenhing,  unter 
welchem  er  geboren  war,  sondern  sprach:  Tch  habe  malen  gel- 
ernt ; die  andern  mogen  warten  lernen/  ” 

iFrom  Riehl,  Die  Vierzelm  Nothelfer. 


10 


(a)  First  we  suggest  that  members  of  the  class  tell  the 
story  of  the  lesson  in  their  own  words  in  German.  Grammatical 
correctness  should  be  striven  for,  but  there  should  be  as  few 
interruptions  as  possible  by  the  teacher.  This  exercise  may 
occupy  one-half  of  the  hour,  or  more. 

(b)  Next,  the  class  should  be  quizzed  on  the  text,  with 
books  open,  if  desired.  This  quiz  should  include  grammatical 
points  and  should  establish  whether  the  student  has  a thorough 
understanding  of  the  text.  It  will  be  necessary  to  lead  the  class 
up  to  carrying  out  the  program  outlined  under  (a).  No  class 
can  do  it  in  a day  or  a week.  To  do  this  it  will  be  well  to  quiz 
on  the  text  in  order  to  teach  students  to  express  themselves  in 
German.  Now  the  sort  of  quizzing  we  have  in  mind  cannot  be 
done  off-hand.  To  make  it  a success  the  teacher  will  have  to  set 
about  to  develop  a method  of  asking  questions  on  the  text,  which 
shall  be  both  specific  and  comprehensive.  This  method  of  ques- 
tioning may  be  worked  out  by  each  teacher  to  suit  his  individ- 
uality, and  if  undertaken  seriously  and  with  a view  to  the  greatest 
possible  efficiency,  it  will  be  found  no  slight  task. 

Texts  are  not  infrequent  which  have  appended  lists  of  ques- 
tions, but  generally  because  of  the  sporadic  nature  of  the  ques- 
tions, they  will  scarcely  do  as  a means  of  bringing  out  the  stu- 
dent’s knowledge  of  the  text  in  hand.  Besides,  there  is  the  fur- 
ther objection  to  this  sort  of  guide,  that  the  questions  they  contain 
are  far  too  difficult.  They  may  do  for  lessons  in  composition, 
but  they  are  not  suited  to  our  present  purposes.  Take,  for  in- 
stance, a few  questions  selected  at  random  from  a guide  for 
Goethe’s  Hermann  und  Dorothea. 

“Inwiefern  bestatigt  der  Alte  in  seiner  Antwort  die  Be- 
rechtigung  des  vom  Pfarrer  gewahlten  Vergleichs?” 

“Durch  welche  ihrer  Handlungen  hat  uns  der  Dichter  bereits 
mit  Dorotheen  bekannt  gemacht?” 

“Wodurch  hatte  der  Pfarrer  indessen  in  diskreter  Weise  die 
Aufmerksamkeit  der  anderen  vom  liebenden  Paare  abgelenkt?” 

These  questions  are  so  difficult,  I think  you  will  agree,  as 
to  necessitate  a number  of  the  students  of  most  second  or  third 
year  classes  to  study  the  questions,  and  with  the  danger  of  mis- 
understanding them  eventually.  Next,  if  understood,  the  ques- 
tion must  be  remembered,  at  least  after  a fashion,  and  finally  the 


11 


text  itself  must  be  ransacked  for  an  answer.  Take  for  example 
the  second  of  the  above  questions.  This  will  necessitate  looking 
through  a considerable  portion  of  the  text,  previously  read,  and 
recounting  the  acts  of  Dorothea.  The  other  questions  are  open 
to  similar  objections. 

But  how  does  the  teacher  fare  meanwhile?  He  will  do  one 
of  two  things : either  memorize  the  questions  beforehand  or  read 
them  from  the  guide  as  he  asks  them,  from  both  of  which  may 
the  gods  protect  us ! No  guide  with  printed  questions  will  do, 
although  a good  one  may  point  the  way  for  the  teacher. 

The  method  of  questioning  on  a text,  which  young  teachers, 
or  such  as  have  not  heretofore  used  German  as  the  medium  of 
communication  in  the  class  room,  should  strive  to  approximate, 
might  be  something  like  this : (using  the  above  passage  as  a 
text) . 

Wann  wurde  Konrad  Lenz  geboren?  Wann  starb  er? 
Wessen  Schuler  war  er?  Wodurch  zeichnete  er  sich  aus?  Was 
malte  er?  Sind  seine  Bilder  oft  anzutreffen?  Wo  steht  diese 
Auskunft  fiber  Konrad  Lenz?  Wie  pflegte  Lenz  sich  fiber  die 
Kunst  des  Malens  zu  auszern?  Wann  malte  er  am  liebsten? 
Geschah  das  oft?  Was  verstehen  Sie  unter  dem  “verabredeten 
Termin’’  hier?  Hielt  Konrad  solchen  Termin  immer  inne?  Wenn 
er’s  auf  Weihnachten  versphrochen,  was  tat  er  dann?  Woher 
stammte  diese  Eigenschaft  Lenzens  ofifenbar?  Schamte  er  sich 
dieser  Eigenschaft?  Wie  pflegte  er  dann  zu  sprechen?  (Full 
sentences  should  be  insisted  on  as  answers,  generally.) 

Or  taking  a more  difficult  portion  of  text:1 

“Georg  stand  noch  immer  scheu  und  verlegen  unweit  des 
Einganges;  endlich  trat  Tertschka  an  ihn  heran.  ‘Geh’  schlafen,’ 
sagte  sie  und  deutete  mit  der  Hand  nach  einer  leeren  Stelle  des 
gemeinschaftlichen  Lagers.  Er  folgte  ihrem  Winke,  angstlich 
bedacht,  so  wenig  Raum  als  moglich  einzunehmen;  schob  seinen 
Quersack  unter  den  Kopf,  breitete  den  abgelegten  Kittel  gleich 
einer  Decke  liber  sich  und  schlief  mit  einem  tiefen  Seufzer  ein. 
Tertschka  aber  zfindete  noch  eine  kleine  Ollampe  an  und  begann, 
am  Herde  niedergekauert,  wieder  emsig  zu  nahen.  Endlich  liesz 
sie  die  Nadel  sinken  und  unterzog  die  Jacke  einer  genauen  Prii- 


iFrom;  Die  Steinklopfer,  by  F.  von  Saar,  Holt  & Co. 


12 


fung.  Dann  blies  sie,  mit  der  vollbrachten  Arbeit  zufrieden,  das 
qualmende  Flammchen  aus  und  legte  sich  angekleidet,  wie  sie 
war,  in  einem  Winkel  neben  dem  Herde  nieder. 

Drauszen  duftete  die  blaue  Sommernacht,  und  zur  Dachlucke 
der  Hiitte  herein  in  den  dunkeln,  vom  Atemgerausch  der  Schla- 
fenden  durchzogenen  Raum  sahen  die  zitternden  Sterne.” 

The  questions  might  be  as  follows:  Was  tat  Georg?  Wie 
stand  er  da?  Tertschka  stand  auch  da?  Was  tat  sie  nun? 
Wie  sprach  sie  zu  ihm?  Und  mit  der  Hand  tat  sie  was?  Sup- 
posing the  answer  is : deutet  nach  der  leeren  Stelle,  the  follow- 
ing question  should  be:  nach  welcher  leeren  Stelle?  Sie  gab 
ihm  also  einen  Wink,  und  was  tat  er  darauf?  Er  war  aber 
angstlich,  was  zu  tun?  Was  tat  er  nun  mit  dem  Sack?  und 
Kittel?  Er  legte  sie  also  loin,  und  tat  dann  was?  Aber  Tertsch- 
ka, ging  sie  auch  schlafen?  Ja  wohl,  aber  endlich  liesz  sie  die 
Nadel  sinken  und  tat  was?  Nun  war  sie  bereit  sich  schlafen 
zu  legen,  und  was  tat  nun?  Wo  legte  sie  sich  nieder?  Hatte 
sie  sich  ausgekleidet ? Was  ist  ein  Herd?  Wie  war’s  draus- 
zen? Wie  beschreibt  der  Dichter  die  Sommernacht?  Was  sah 
man  durch  die  Dachlucke?  Und  im  Raum  war’s  mauschenstill  ? 
Als  der  morgen  kam,  aber  hier  heiszt  es  nicht  kam,  sondern  wie? 
Was  geschah  da? 

Or  supposing  we  have  in  hand  Hermann  und  Dorothea, 
a still  more  difficult  text.  The  edition1  I have  before  me  has 
appended  lists  of  German  questions  on  the  text.  I select  this 
edition  for  discussion  simply  because  the  questions  and  the 
general  plan  are  typical  of  many  of  the  texts  published  today. 
Aside  from  the  fact  that  in  this  edition  the  questions  are  often 
couched  in  poor  German,  as  shown  by  the  following  sentences 
culled  at  random:  P.  118,  Was  ist  der  Schauplatsz  des  ersten 
Gesanges?  P.  138-1,  Wie  viel  Zeit  ist  verstrichen,  etc.?  P.  136-20, 
Zahlen  Sie  all  die  verschiedenen  Arten  von  Aufopferung  auf, 
etc.,  the  questions  are  again  too  sporadic,  too  general,  and  often 
too  difficult.  This  is  so  evident  as  to  make  it  unnecessary  to 
point  out  specific  defects. 

The  inadequacy  of  sentences  like  those  cited  above  is  patent. 


ffiermann  und  Dorothea.  Edited  by  Philip  S.  Allen,  Ginn  & Co. 


13 


The  fact  that  scarcely  anyone  makes  use  of  such  appended  ques- 
tion lists  speaks  for  itself. 

Instead  of  the  ten  questions  found  in  the  quoted  edition  on 
the  first  twenty-three  lines  of  the  third  canto  now,  we  would 
suggest  the  following:  Wie  lautet  der  Titel  des  3.  Gesanges? 
Und  warum  hat  er  wohl  den  Untertitel:  Die  Burger?  Was  tat 
nun  der  Sohn,  nachdem  der  Vater  seine  Rede  beendet?  Welche 
Eigenschaft  wird  (1.)  dem  Sohn  (2.)  der  Rede  des  Vaters 
beigelegt?  Schwieg  der  Vater,  als  der  Sohn  entwichen  war? 
Was  heiszt  entweichen?  Wie  fuhr  der  Vater  fort?  Was  sagte 
er?  Schwerlich  wird  was  geschehen?  Der  Wunsch,  dasz  der 
Sohn — ? Denn  was  ware  das  Haus,  wenn  nicht  immer  was 
geschahe?  Wer  lehrt  uns  so  zu  erneuern  und  verbessern?  Der 
Mensch  soil  nicht  der  Erde  (aber  hier  heiszt’s  nicht  Erde  sondern 
wie?)  entwachsen,  wie  was?  Und  dann  was  tun?  Was  kann 
man  am  Hause  erkennen?  Und  wenn  man  ein  Stadtchen  betritt, 
tut  man  was?  Denn  der  Ort  ist  ubel  regieret,  wo  was  geschieht? 
Mit  Tiirmen?  in  Graben?  und  Gassen?  und  wo  der  Stein — ? 
und  der  Balken  ? Denn  wo  die  Ordnung  und  die  Reinlichkeit  nicht 
von  oben  wirkt,  was  geschieht  da  leicht?  Wie  der  Bettler  was 
tut?  Darum  hat  der  Vater  was  gewiinscht?1 

But  it  will  not  do  to  have  a stereotyped  recitation.  Nothing 
worse  than  that!  Judicious  surprises  are  refreshing,  e.  g.,  having 
the  class  read  with  assigned  roles,  or  opening  with  a song,  or  with 
a proverb  symposium,  or  a letter  written  by  a German  child,  or 
passing  pictures,  post  cards,  etc.,  about  the  class,  or  getting  up  a 
discussion  on  some  point  of  the  lesson.  Or  some  grammatical 
forms  may  be  drilled  in  a live  way,  e.g.,  by  quoting  the  words  of 
a character  directly,  or  indirectly,  if  the  text  gives  them  directly, 
etc.,  etc.,  while  the  regular  work  in  grammar  and  composition 
may  well  occupy  some  time  each  period.2 

Sometime  during  the  second  or  third  year,  it  will  be  profit- 


!A  large  use  of  synonyms  is  recommended,  as  they  not  only  help  to 
avoid  English,  but  offer  a continual  review  of  vocabulary.  This  method 
allows  of  much  variety  and  affords  the  best  sort  of  live  grammatical  drill, 
when  desired.  • 

2On  further  plans,  etc.,  see  Brebner,  The  Method  of  Teaching 
Modern  Languages  in  Germany,  London,  1904. 


14 


able  to  begin  to  pay  some  attention  to  the  literary  aspects  of 
the  text  in  hand.  There  is  no  danger  in  beginning  this  sort  of 
study  early,  unless  the  discussions  are  in  English. 

Aside  from  the  fact  that  teaching  literary  science  is  not  pre- 
eminently the  function  of  the  German  teacher,  excepting,  possi- 
bly, in  the  most  advanced  work,  there  are  other  grounds  for 
discontinuing  the  practice  of  writing  English  essays  in  German 
classes. 

The  attempt  in  undergraduate  courses,  where  this  practice 
is  indulged  in,  is  generally  to  use  the  historical-critical  method 
of  literary  study.  But  this  method  has  been  done  to  death  in 
German  classes  of  the  second,  third  and  fourth  years.  In  many 
of  these  classes  students  have  assigned  them  periodic  papers  on 
such  themes  as : The  Genesis  of  the  Drama ; The  Characters ; 
Diction  and  Style;  Fate  and  Tragic  Fault  in  the  Drama;  Com- 
parison with  other  treatments  of  the  same  plot  or  material;  etc., 
etc. 

The  evil  is  that  this  work  is  necessarily  done  in  English,  for 
no  student  in  this  stage  of  his  study  can  do  in  German,  real, 
critical  work,  such  as  comparing  the  prototypes,  plans,  prelimi- 
nary studies,  sketches  and  variants  of  a work  of  literature. 
More  than  this.  At  the  age  at  which  the  average  student  does 
the  third  and  fourth  years  of  German,  he  should  not  be  taught 
a negative  method,  such  as  the  historical-critical  method  really  is. 
He  should  not  be  taught  to  tear  down,  but  to  appreciate  and 
build  up. 

Again,  this  method,  as  generally  employed,  consists  more  in 
reading  what  others  have  said  about  the  work  in  hand  than  in 
a first-hand  knowledge  of  the  work  itself,  and  thus  the  immature 
student  is  often  taught  to  accept  the  ready-made  judgments  of 
others.  The  place  of  the  hiatorical-critical  method  is  not  in  the 
first  three  or  four  years  in  German. 

Rather  should  the  emphasis  be  laid  on  a first-hand  knowledge 
of  the  text  itself.  The  student  should  be  taught  to  see  for  him- 
self, and  to  use  his  wits.  In  the  undergraduate  course  it  is  the 
business  of  the  teacher  to  teach  German  and  not  the  science  ol 
literary  study. 

If,  however,  pointing  out  the  beauties  of  the  piece  of  litera- 
ture in  hand,  and  teaching  the  student  to  use  his  judgment  in 


15 


regard  to  the  things  he  reads,  serves  to  enhance  his  interest 
in  the  study  of  German;  if  the  further  assimilation  of  the  idiom 
can  be  made  more  engrossing  by  calling  his  attention  to  the 
various  aspects  of  the  text,  which  he  is  able  to  discuss  in  Ger- 
man, then  we  shall  do  well  to  cultivate  such  study. 

The  suggestions  for  such  study,  which  I intend  to  set  forth 
here,  will  be  restricted  to  prose  fiction,  but  many  of  them  can 
be  made  use  of  in  the  study  of  the  drama  and  the  epic  equally 
well. 

As  a good  starting  point  in  the  first-hand  study  of  a text 
the  student  may  be  asked  to  look  at  the  language  with  refer- 
ence to  the  forms  of  writing  employed,  i.  e.,  the  categories  of 
rhetoric,  description,  narration,  argument,  criticism  and  exposi- 
tion.1 Each  student  should  be  asked  to  mark  and  label  the 
passages.  This  having  been  done,  they  can  be  run  through 
speedily  in  class  and  possible  errors  corrected.  Attention  should 
now  be  called  to  the  effect  of  the  predominance  of  descriptive, 
narrative,  or  other  masses. 

A second  exercise  may  profitably  consist  in  examining  the 
dialogic2  masses.  This  will  offer  opportunity  to  distinguish 
between  soliloquy,  monologue  and  conversation,  to  show  what 
good  conversation  is,  and  how  difficult  to  manage  when  more 
than  three  take  part  in  it,  etc.  After  the  student  has  seen  for 
himself  the  proportion  of  dialogic  and  non-dialogic  masses  in  the 
work,  attention  may  be  called  to  the  effect  of  the  preponderance 
of'one. 

As  a third  exercise  a study  may  be  made  of  the  masses  of 
dramatic3  and  semi-dramatic  speech. 

The  foregoing  exercises  will  acquaint  the  student  with  the 
literary  vehicle. 

i}c  ;js  ifc  s}s  sjc 

We  may  now  properly  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  what 
has  been  called  the  consecutive  structure.  One  of  the  most  im- 


iBeschreibung;  Erzahlung;  Dialektik;  Kritik;  Analyse  oder  Ausein- 
andersetzung,  auch  Interpretation. 

2 All  language  presented  as  spoken  is  dialogic,  all  presented  as  written 
is  documentary. 

3 All  language  of  a character,  also  the  author’s  own  words,  when  used 
as  in  dialogue  with  a character,  is  dramatic.  Speech  of  a character  re- 
produced with  partial  accuracy  is  semi-dramatic. 


16 


portant  things  to  be  observed  here  is  the  speed  of  the  fiction. 
The  best  means  I have  found  for  the  determination  of  speed  is 
the  scheme  proposed  by  Goethe  and  Schiller,  and  to  be  found  in 
their  letters  for  the  motives  of  the  drama  and  the  epic.  Ac- 
cording to  this  scheme  motives1  are  of  five  kinds ; vorwarts- 
schreitend,2  vorgreifend,3  retardierend,4  ruckwartsschreitend5 
and  zuruckgreifend.6 

Attention  should  be  called  to  the  fact  that  a fiction  consists 
of  either  onward  movement,  or  depiction  of  situation,7  and 
finally  attention  should  be  called  to  the  proportion  of  the  various 
masses  and  the  effect  of  such  proportion  should  be  noted. 

As  an  introduction  to  the  study  of  character  and  characteri- 
zation, lists  of  the  characters  of  the  work  studied  should  be  made, 
which  shall  include  all  of  the  personages  introduced,  groups  as 
well  as  individuals  being  noted.  A well-managed  study  of  this 
sort  piques  the  interest,  and  delights  even  the  more  laggard  mem- 
bers of  the  class.  The  student  may  be  asked  to  make  a graded 
list  of  the  characters  and  designate  the  most  important  (fore- 
ground) ; the  less  important  (middleground)  ; and  the  least  im- 
portant (background)  characters. 

This  may  be  made  to  lead  up  to  a study  of  characterization 
in  that  the  student  is  asked  to  point  out  how  the  most  important 
characters  have  come  to  be  such,  i.  e.,  to  point  out  the  actions 
by  means  of  which  the  character  is  made  to  live  before  us,  and  to 
tabulate  the  qualities  which  the  author  attributes  to  him. 

In  German  fictions  the  Weltanschauung  of  the  author  is 
generally  much  in  evidence.  A further  exercise,  therefore,  may 
consist  in  labelling  the  Weltanschauung 8 contained  in  the  work 
under  consideration  and  in  supporting  such  classification  by  facts 
from  the  book. 

The  interest  in  plot  may  be  stimulated  by  having  outlines 
of  it  made  and  by  having  titles  supplied  for  the  various  chapters 


iMotive  is  taken  here  in  the  broad  sense  of  mass  or  material.  2 One 

that  furthers  the  action.  3Anticipative,  or  foreshadowing.  4One  that 

denotes  a standstill  in  the  narrative  or  action.  5One  that  retards  very 

decidedly ; irrelevant  motive  or  matter.  6Retrospective,  i.  e.,  one  that 

takes  up  past  history  or  events. 

7 Situationsmalerei. 

8Standard  types  of  Weltanschauung  are:  resigniert,  pessimistisch, 
optimistisch.  Blendings  are  frequent. 


17 


of  the  book.  In  all  of  these  subjects  the  student  should  be 
encouraged  to  express  his  taste  and  his  opinions  freely. 

The  following  illustration  of  what  may  be  done  in  the  study 
of  the  idiom  itself,  and  incidentally  of  style,  may  not  be  amiss: 
Taking  Brentano’s  “Aus  der  Chronika  eines  fahrenden  Schu- 
lers,” for  a text,  attention  will  first  be  called  to  archaic  gram- 
matical forms,  and  their  effect  in  creating  the  historic  atmos- 
phere. The  forms  to  be  tabulated  by  the  student.  Here  Scott’s 
theory  of  the  language  of  the  historic  novel,  as  found  in  the 
introduction  to  Ivanhoe,  may  fittingly  be  quoted,  which  is : To 
combine  the  specialized  language  of  a period  or  a social  class 
with  the  language  that  belongs  to  all  ranks  and  all  countries. 
And  to  give  the  general  effect  of  remoteness,  even  for  bygone 
centuries,  he  finds  the  language  of  a few  generations  back  suf- 
ficient. 

The  prevalence  of  diminutives  and  their  effect,  as  terms  of 
endearment  and  in  lending  the  semblance  of  small  and  ingratiat- 
ing proportions,  will  need  to  be  noted,  after  which  a study  should 
be  made  of  the  suggestive  and  highly  poetic  words  and  expres- 
sions which  help  to  make  this  tale  a prose  poem. 

A further  consideration  of  the  Gefiihlszvert  of  words  as 
compared  to  the  ordinary  logical  meaning  may  lead  to  a discus- 
sion of  language  in  general.  The  language  of  the  text  will  be 
seen  to  convey  more  than  a bare  meaning  of  words.  This  some- 
thing more  is  poetry.  In  music,  it  may  be  noted,  words  become 
entirely  inadequate,  and  sounds  replace  them.  In  mathematics 
and  science,  words  become  superfluous  often  and  are  replaced 
by  symbols ; while  between  music  and  mathematics  stands  ordi- 
nary newspaper  prose,  in  which  words  are  adequate  to  the  task 
in  hand,  and  convey  the  meaning  and  nothing  more.  Having 
performed  these  investigations  for  himself,  the  student  will,  as 
far  as  the  literary  vehicle  is  concerned,  have  come  to  something 
like  a first-hand  knowledge  of  the  book. 

Such  and  similar  exercises  may  lead  to  ideas  and  material 
for  senior  dissertations  or  essays,  and  thus  we  shall  come  nearer 
performing  our  primary  function,  viz.  to  teach  German  besides 
teaching  the  student  to  appreciate  literature  and  to  judge  of  it 
for  himself. 

Charles  Hart  Handschin. 


Oxford,  Ohio, 


18 


Dll  2 105657560 


